USA

Guilty As Charged! Trump Convicted in Hush-Money Case, Awaits Sentencing

Published

4 months ago

May 31, 2024

Eric

A New York jury convicted Donald Trump on all charges in his hush-money case on Thursday in a seismic development barely five months ahead of the election where he seeks to recapture the White House.

The verdict makes Trump the first criminally convicted former US president but does not prevent him from campaigning for another term.

The first criminal trial of a former US president ended with the 77-year-old Trump found guilty on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a payment meant to silence porn star Stormy Daniels.Trump – who was released without bail and is all but certain to appeal – initially sat still in the drab Manhattan courtroom, shoulders dipping.

Addressing reporters outside minutes later, though, he branded the result a “disgrace” and “rigged,” vowing that the “real verdict” would come from voters in the November 5 presidential election.

The conviction thrusts the United States into uncharted political territory.

However, it does not bar Trump from his continuing his White House run, even in the unlikely event that Judge Juan Merchan sentences him to prison.

Sentencing was set for July 11 – right before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is due to receive the party’s formal nomination to face Democratic President Joe Biden in the election.

Biden’s campaign issued a statement saying that the trial showed “no one is above the law.” It added that “the threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater.”

The 12-member jury deliberated for more than 11 hours over two days before announcing the unanimous conclusion within a matter of minutes.

Merchan thanked the jurors for completing the “difficult and stressful task.”

Their identities had been kept secret throughout proceedings, a rare practice more often seen in cases involving mafia or other violent defendants.

– Election conspiracy –

Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, when her claim to have had sex with him could have proved fatal to his campaign.

The trial featured lengthy testimony from the adult performer, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford and who described to the court in graphic detail what she says was a 2006 sexual encounter with the married Trump.

Prosecutors successfully laid out a case alleging that the hush money and the illegal covering up of the payment was part of a broader crime to prevent voters from knowing about Trump’s behaviour.

Trump’s defence attorneys had countered that “trying to influence an election” was simply “democracy” and that the former president did nothing wrong.

– Campaigning in courthouse –

The trial has distracted Trump from his campaign to unseat Biden.

However, he milked the media attention throughout, with daily speeches in front of the cameras outside the courtroom in which he complained about being a political victim.

Yet after teasing the prospect for weeks, Trump — who denied ever having sex with Daniels at a 2006 celebrity golf tournament — opted not to testify.

Keith Gaddie, a political analyst and professor at Texas Christian University, said the political impact of the shocking events has yet to be determined.

“It probably doesn’t move a lot of votes, but in particular states with particular swing votes, it could matter around the margins. So in particularly tight races, it can tip things back from one direction to the other,” she said.

The Republican, who made his name as a brash real estate mogul before a stunning ascent to the nation’s highest office in the 2016 election, now faces prison or, more likely, probation.

In theory, he could face up to four years in jail for each count of falsifying business records but legal experts said as a first-time offender he is unlikely to go behind bars.

An appeal could take months to complete.

Should he win the presidency he will not be able to pardon himself, given that the case was not brought by the federal government but by the state of New York, where only the governor could clear his name.

Trump also faces federal and state charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Biden, and for hoarding secret documents after leaving the White House.

AFP

USA

Trump Rejects Another Kamala Harris’ Challenge to Debate on CNN

Published

3 weeks ago

September 23, 2024

Eric

Donald Trump, on Saturday, rejected another debate with Vice President Kamala Harris before the U.S presidential election, hours after the Democratic candidate’s campaign said she had agreed to an October 23 matchup with her Republican rival on CNN.

“Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share a stage with Donald Trump, and she has accepted CNN’s invitation to a debate on October 23. Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, the chair of the Harris campaign, said in a statement.

Trump stuck to his previous position that there would not be another debate before voters go to the polls in the November 5 election.

“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late. Voting has already started,” the former U.S president told supporters at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Harris and Trump debated each other for the first time on September 10, in a contest that polls showed she won.

Trump debated President Joe Biden in June.

Biden’s shaky performance in that debate rattled Democrats and prompted strategists to ask whether their party should take the unprecedented step of replacing the 81-year old president as their candidate. Biden withdrew from the race for the White House in July.

USA

Kamala Harris Chooses Tim Walz As Presidential Running Mate

Published

2 months ago

August 6, 2024

Eric

Vice President Kamala Harris has picked Minnesota Gov., Tim Walz, as her presidential running mate, ahead of the forthcoming American election in November.

He will join her this evening at a rally in Philadelphia, kicking off a swing through battleground states, says NBCnews.

USA

Biden Steps Down from Re-Election Bid, Says ‘It’s in the Best Interest of the Country’

Published

3 months ago

July 21, 2024

Eric

President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, has announced his resignation from seeking reelection into the White House.

Biden, who made the announcement on Sunday, said much as he would love to return to the Oval Office, his decision to quit the race is in the interest of the Democratic Party and country.

The Full Speech

“My Fellow Americans, Over the past three and a half years, we have made great progress as a Nation,” Biden said.

My Fellow Americans,

Over the past three and a half years, we have made great progress as a Nation. Today, America has the strongest economy in the world. We’ve made historic investments in rebuilding our Nation, in lowering prescription drug costs for seniors, and in expanding affordable health care to a record number of Americans. We’ve provided critically needed care to a million veterans exposed to toxic substances. Passed the first gun safety law in 30 years. Appointed the first African American woman to the Supreme Court. And passed the most significant climate legislation in the history of the world. America has never been better positioned to lead than we are today.

I know none of this could have been done without you, the American people. Together, we overcame a once in a century pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We’ve protected and preserved our Democracy. And we’ve revitalized and strengthened our alliances around the world.

It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.

I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision. For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected. I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me.

“I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do – when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America.”

Some Americans and top democrats had raised concerns over Biden’s health following his botched presidential debate with Donald Trump, Republican Party nominee.